Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman and the ranking member, who lead this committee in such an able, expert manner and in a bipartisan way. I thank especially the author of this important resolution, one of our subcommittee chairmen, Ted Poe. I rise in strong support of Judge Poe's bill, the Combat Terrorist Use of Social Media Act. I urge all of my colleagues to support this important measure. Extremist groups like ISIS are well-known for their extensive use of social media, spreading their hateful ideology, inciting violence, and attempting to recruit susceptible individuals to their hateful and twisted cause. When we hear reports and statistics that we have heard today--like ISIS having over 40,000 Twitter accounts or that there are an estimated 200,000 pro-ISIS social media posts per day--clearly, more needs to be done. These jihadists have become more and more tech savvy and are more adept at manipulating the tools of social media. Yet we in the United States lack any comprehensive strategy to counter their perverted ideology via social media. As Judge Poe has very ably argued, the administration could be stopping pro-extremists' social media in much the same way that we now stop online child pornography. ISIS and other foreign terrorist organizations do not have free speech rights under American law.…”